I am a Mac guy. This means only the occasional interruption for updates from Microsoft. These are most often for Word for Macs. Yet in none of these updates have they added to my spell check dictionary words like “Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, or Facebook.â€Â If they do implement this change they can use this […]
The Greatest Customer Complaint Response Ever
I had lunch today with my friends Emma and Senor Esparza. Â They ate at Justus Drugstore last night. Â Justus is on the outermost outskirts of what could be considered Kansas City. Â In the few years that it has been open it has developed a reputation of being well worth the drive. Â I personally have never […]
Set Schedules As A Manager
One of the most time consuming tasks a manager faces during the week is writing the server schedule. Hours can be spent digging up scraps of paper and consulting server availability just to get coverage for a particular shift.  This is followed by the inevitable complaints from people who work too little or too much. […]
The Advantages of Set Schedules
Yesterday I discussed the disadvantages of having a set schedule. While I think I managed to make some valid points, it was sort of hollow. The primary reason I am still at my current job is because of my schedule. It took about two and a half years, but I managed to get my ideal […]
The Disadvantages of Set Schedules
     Saturday night I spent some time on the patio with one of the newer servers at my restaurant. He is low on seniority, but has spent more years serving than I have. I estimate total the two of us have between three and four decades of serving experience. I am […]
Searches Answered
So part of being the slightly neurotic blogger that I am is keeping an eye on what searches brought people here. Sometimes they are very specific searches. In those cases I stop and think, “Did I answer that?â€Â For some I am convinced that I not only answered the question, but did so thoroughly. For […]
Dr Strange Salmon
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Genetically Modified Salmon Earlier this week I posted a link to a story regarding the AquAdvantage genetically modified salmon. In the days since, I have become fascinated by this concept. I have consumed dozens of articles on the topic and several related topics. I have also […]
My Response: 25 Things Chefs Never Tell You
I am trying to fight through the worst bout of writer’s block I have had since I started writing this blog. I started at least three different posts yesterday that ended up in the recycle bin. In my last post I promised to get back to some server related posts, but my brain has forced […]
Resumes For Servers
“You should never write your own resume, personal ad, or obituary. In all three cases it is better to show your humility by letting someone else lie for you.†-David Hayden Every since picking up a copy of Peter’s Quotations in high school it has been a personal goal of mine to quote myself in […]
Remembering Labor on Labor Day
Happy Labor Day to everyone at home to read this because they are not busy laboring. Â I had a brief break between shifts on my double and wanted to post a few thoughts on the holiday. Â Perhaps no other American holiday has less remembrance of its origin. Â Maybe it is the Labor Day double, but […]
Story Time: Injuries
From the statistics I get through WordPress, I can tell that about half my traffic comes from search engines. Which is cool and I enjoy seeing what people search for to end up at my blog. The other half is people who came here via a link someone posted or have the page bookmarked. For […]
About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.